I have many personal thoughts on this case. It is extremely hard to stick to the facts especially when the media has reported so much untruth & LE as well. Thus one can make many educated inferences with regards to this case. Educated inferences are all that they are, not facts. I think we can all remember one very influential cofounder & CEO of Apple Inc. that did not have a college degree. Let's stick to the facts.
I'm with you on that. Unfortunately it's extremely difficult IMO to even determine what the 'facts' are, since there are so many unnamed "official sources" who have given contradictory and sometimes inaccurate reports/accounts, not to mention the plethora of speculation, gossip and 'revelations' and 'exclusives' being churned out by the media.
Amongst many of the 'facts' currently puzzling me are the following:
1) In the Federal complaint against DT, it alleges that available footage/images from the site of the 2nd blast (where he had been standing) reveal no possible source of the explosion apart from his backpack which he is alleged to have put down and then left behind. However one of the available images clearly shows a package sitting to the left of a litter bin (viewed from across the street) which was just beside the little boy who died and his family, and very close to a woman who looks similar to one of the young women who died.
The image that shows what is alleged to be DT's packpack on the ground is taken from an angle in which the bin and package are not visible, but other images show just how close it was to where the Richards family were standing at the time of the explosion. They are not in this 'package' image but news reports have stated that they were in a different location or walking about before stopping there to watch the race again. There has been no mention of this package by any official sources although of course it's possible that it was subsequently removed before the blast happened, but it 'looks' to me as if it has been discarded.
2) In the official complaint there is an account of what the alleged carjack victim (known only as 'Danny') apparently told investigators about the incident, including his claim that TT told him he'd done the bombing. Such a claim would make this man a key witness and so I would have thought that he would have been warned not to talk about his evidence, especially not in an 'exclusive' such as the dramatic account which subsequently appeared in the Boston Globe and then was spread round the world.
But talk he did, and his initial story (per earlier reports) of an approx. 30 minute ride burgeoned into a 90 minute joyride around various districts of Boston in which he chatted with his captors about cars, women, music and more, and where TT even took time during the trip to download a Chinese translation app on 'Danny's' phone just to answer one of 'Danny's' texts (whilst presumably also still pointing a gun at him), doubled back to a previous location where DT's car allegedly was just to get some CD's, put his gun down to fiddle with the navigation system and other fantastical details, including TT allegedly announcing that he had also killed the MIT officer. The story reads just like an action-packed thriller movie.
However, the official complaint makes no mention of TT's alleged confession to 'Danny' that he had also killed the police officer. It also differs materially from 'Danny's' subsequent story to the Globe in that the complaint states that "The man with the gun forced the victim to drive to another location, where they picked up a second man" whereas in the Globe version he alleges that "an old sedan" pulled up behind him, TT got out, carjacked him and forced him to drive, with the
other car following behind. He states that they then drove to another location where the other car driver (presumably DT) gets in the back behind him and TT then drives his car.
Whatever the correct version is, if any, the current only prime witness to this alleged event and TT's supposed confessions may now have real problems with credibility at trial. I am really surprised he has been allowed to talk so freely.
3) There is an image available online of a shredded black backpack which I have read was released by the FBI and is purportedly one of the bags which contained a bomb. If this is the case, it doesn't appear to me to be either TT's or DT's bag. It certainly isn't DT's because his was a mostly lightish grey or beige bag with some black sections. Looking at the image, at the top rear of the shredded bag you can see what appears to be part of the shoulder straps. They have a grey stripe down them. Looking at available CCTV footage, TT's bag does not appear to have any strips on the shoulder straps. The stripped straps do however appear to be very similar to the bag held on the forearm of a man in a blue jacket/fleece who can be seen in one of the other available images from that day. It's not either of the two young men who were initially suspected and then cleared (one of whom had a blue top also if I recall).
As yet I am not aware if the black shredded bag has been officially confirmed to have contained one of the bombs, but if it did it doesn't look as though it was DT's or TT's bag.
Does anyone have any images of the 'Saudi' who was apparently arrested, questioned and let go? I'm interested to see what he looked like for comparison.
4) I've been looking at pressure cookers currently available from Macy's just to remind myself of their relative size and bulk (I used to own one many moons ago but we didn't get along very well). I think they would fill out an average backpack pretty well and produce a noticeable bulge, not to mention the likely weight if they were filled with various metal objects. Looking again at the CCTV of TT and DT walking by on the street, TT's packpack doesn't look very filled out to me, certainly not as much as I would expect it to be with a bulky pressure cooker inside. A couple of the models available from Macy's are described as being around 8" x 11" so they're quite big. DT's bag does look fuller, but he has it slung by one strap so that may make the contents bunch to one side or to the front, plus it looks as though it's double-pouched to me. Just my observations.
5) As of today, a search for DT's name in the Federal prison database is still resulting in "inmate not found". I seem to recall that CA's name and inmate details were available when she was awaiting trial because people were sending her money/letters etc. Does anyone know a reason why DT's details are not currently available? Is it a state by state thing?
So many questions, so few answers. The only sure thing is that some innocent people have lost their lives and many others were injured and maimed by these awful events.
